The news of a fire on Vermillion, a Mariner Energy-owned oil-rig platform in the Gulf, drew instant comparisons with the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in April and caused the huge BP oil spill. But stark differences exist between the two incidents.
Does BP's selling of several legacy assets mean the beginning of the end for the oil giant? No, says one observer. It frees up cash for oil-spill cleanup and gives Apache assets not connected to the politically toxic world of offshore drilling.
The Obama administration issued a revised moratorium on offshore drilling Monday that's no longer based on drilling depth. The new edict supersedes a previous ban that called for a blanket offshore deepwater drilling moratorium.
Noble is looking to strike it rich with a $2.16 billion acquisition of FDR Holdings, also known as Frontier Drilling. Noble, an offshore drilling contractor, is seeking to expand its footprint in the mid- and deepwater drilling zones.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, who overturned the Obama administration's temporary ban on deep-water offshore oil drilling, has investments in oil industry companies including Ocean Energy, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy and Halliburton.